21 Minifills
by avearia
Summary: 21 separate fills from prompts on the Rise of the Guardians KM thread. - Next Up: "Curiosity Killed the Jack." - ...But satisfaction brought him back. Five times Jack's curiosity nearly got him killed, and one time it saved his arse. A 5 plus 1 fic.
1. Make Yourself at Home (North x Pitch)

I'm currently doing a self imposed challenge to fill 21 prompts on the Rise of the Guardians Kink Meme. I started this good while ago but haven't made much progress, and sadly the ROTG KM is a bit dead anymore. But I'd like to finish it regardless. Feel free to pop over to the KM if you're interested (18 plus, please), always interested in seeing more prompts there! Link is in my profile.

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**Summary**: Pitch is a creature of the dark, and in the dark is the only place he truly feels safe. The Guardians, after making a truce with Pitch, have to deal with the fact that their new friend... lurks. A _lot_.

Can be read as Gen or slight North/Pitch.

—

* * *

**Make Yourself At Home**

He's lurking in the cupboards again.

North finds Pitch in the oddest places nowdays. Ever since The Truce, Pitch has been making an effort to be "more sociable"—though in North's opinion, the Boogieman's idea of "social" could use a little tweaking. Right now, all it means is that Pitch will drop by, usually unannounced, settle into the nearest closet/shadowy corner/vacant room/etc, pull out a good book, and wait for someone to notice.

Someone always notices. Eventually. The Discovery Of Pitch is usually heralded by the yelp of a Yeti, or the frantic jingle of an elf. Or, on rare occasions, by the flurry of Russian swearwords echoing down from North's office.

North has lost track of how often he's found Pitch in the nooks and crannies of the Pole. Nesting in the rafters; lounging in supply rooms, hiding under beds. Sometimes he'll be there for hours before making himself known, such as the time when North sneezed in his study and something in the air vents said "bless you."

It's routine, now. He sighs and accepts it.

Scaring North, or North's Yetis and Elves, doesn't seem to be Pitch's main objective but rather, in the Nightmare King's own words, "A delightful side-effect." Instead, North eventually comes to realize, Pitch's routine is simply that: a routine. A habit. A way of making himself comfortable in a place where a shadow shouldn't rightfully belong.

The North Pole is bright. Brilliant. _Loud_. …a bit overwhelming, admittedly, especially for spirits who spent centuries alone. Hence why Jack's visits tend to be short and sporadic, and why Pitch relegates himself to the shadows. It's the only place Pitch ever seems to really feel safe.

That's why North doesn't shout when he waltzes into his private kitchen to find Pitch hiding there. Yes, it's unsettling, to be sure—to kneel and reach for the kettle only to find the boogieman sitting there, nestled between the frying pans and the stockpots, yellow eyes staring back. But it's better than before, when Pitch tried to act _normal, _sitting exposed in the light—when his visits were tense and short and left him wound tighter than a spring. And it's better than the start, when Pitch simply didn't visit at all.

Pitch is, in many ways, an embodiment of darkness, and it is only in the darkness where he feels comfortable.

And Pitch certainly looks comfortable in the cupboards—despite being cramped by cookware. So North hesitates, lifts the pot, and offers, simply, "Tea?"

Pitch tilts his head, a finger held between the pages of _The Call of Cthulu _as a temporary bookmark, and gives the faintest of smiles.

"…Please."

North makes two cups then, treating them both to black tea; Pitch's with two sugars, North's with lemon and vodka. He sets his guest's saucer on the floor, and after he straightens to tend to his own drink, he hears from below: a _clink, _a sip, and a contented sigh.

With a quiet grin, North sips his own drink, and tries his best not to laugh.

_I can get used to shadows in cupboards,_ he thinks. _I am glad Pitch feels at home. _


	2. Keep Shining (Pitch x Sandy)

Mini!Fill: (Pitch/Sandy, Kozmotis/Lady Pitchner) Keep Shining (Angst, Depression, PTSD, Canon Death)

**Summary**: Even centuries after the fact, Sandy mourns the loss of Kozmotis Pitchner, his close friend and the light of his life from the Golden Age. Set to the tune of "You Are My Sunshine." Contains Kozmotis/Lady Pitchner and Pitch/Sandy.

* * *

**Keep Shining**

…_Please don't take my sunshine away._

Every night, even years after the war, Sandy kept his promise. As the twilight hours faded over the Atlantic coast and darkness settled in, a trail of glittering sand rose to meet the night sky. The evening was lonely, as it always was.

But the Sandman was no stranger to the dark.

_You are my sunshine..._

_My only sunshine..._

Before he was the Sandman, he was Sanderson Mansnoozie, the lone and humble pilot of a brilliant shooting star. Like all Star Pilots, his job was simple: to collect wishes, and from them, craft dreams that would lead to a better and brighter tomorrow. The job was hard - but vital. He did not hesitate to plunge into the darkness to bring his light to others.

And the cosmos, back then, was very dark indeed.

_You make me happy_

_when skies are gray_

Fearlings, Space Pirates, Knight Terrors. A darkness that could rip whole planets asunder - a void that only grew with time. _That_ was a true darkness, vast and endless, that shook him to the core. Sandy had paled and flickered before it, and his light had nearly gone out.

But there were other lights in the universe, ones even brighter than he. The fearlings were formidable, yes, but not an enemy they had to face alone. To renew his strength, to feed his fire, Sandy drew on the steadiest and brightest source of light he could find.

A longtime friend, Kozmotis Pitchner.

_You'll never know, dear_

_How much I love you_

For all his skill at inspiring others, Sandy was never so good at following those dreams himself. Kozmotis was a married man, anyway, with a child besides. He couldn't come between that, not when they made him so happy.

In the Golden Age, no one but the stars and the star-ling children could glow - but sometimes, Koz _almost_ managed it. When he spoke of his family, beaming with pride, to when he fought for them, blazing across the battlefield. That light? It never faltered. And Sandy could accept that. Even if that beautiful light would never be for him.

_Keep_ _Shining_, Sandy said, every time they bid farewell.

_Please don't take..._

When his wife and child died, Kozmotis seemed to... darken. Or 'sharpen', maybe, was the better word. He was still a beacon on the front lines, but he was... crueler. Harsher. Relentless. Didn't shine so much as pierce—He didn't push back shadows. He cut straight through them.

After the War ended, Kozmotis didn't celebrate. He tracked down Sandy and dragged him to a bar, so they could commiserate, and commemorate, and drink their weight in liquor. After tallying their losses, both of them fell silent, lost in their own memories. And then Kozmotis said,

"There's nothing left for me here." His eyes were distant. "They took all there was to take."

_My Sunshine..._

Sandy almost told him then.

"The Tsar is disbanding the Army. But I don't think I can go home. Not to an empty house - Not when everyone who loves me is gone."

—Sandy _should_ have told him then.

"I don't have to go home, though," Koz said. "Turns out, they're building a prison - and they need someone to guard it."

...But at that moment, he had never felt so small, and his world had never seemed so dark.

"I already told them Yes."

_...Away._

Sandy was silent, unable to speak. He only stared wordlessly at Kozmotis, willing for all this to somehow be a lie.

Kozmotis clapped Sandy on the shoulder. "You're a good friend, Sanderson," he said at last. "When you're out traveling the cosmos, flying by planets, will you visit mine? So that this isn't our last goodbye?"

Sandy, still in shock, could only nod.

The General stood, a little drunk but not unsteady, and made his way to the door.

At the threshold, he stopped and looked back, lingering for the barest moment with his hand above the knob. As if he were waiting for something.

_...Please,_

Sandy opened his mouth, willing the words to rush out - His feelings, his love, his dreams for the future - a million things he wanted to say, the first of which was a simple _Don't_ _Go_.

_...Don't take..._

But nothing came.

_...My Sunshine..._

Kozmotis hesitated, watching his friend - then, smiled, a sad yet fond expression. And in the end, it was Kozmotis that said their goodbye.

_...Away._

"Keep shining."


	3. Curiosity Killed the Jack

Prompt: Curiosity Killed the Jack

_But Satisfaction Brought Him Back. _Five times Jack's trickster curiosity nearly got him killed, and one time it saved his arse. a 5+1 fic.

* * *

1\. North's  
_Rogue AI _

"What does _this_ button do?"

There are rules in the Workshop, rules put in place to protect the Yeti workers, tiny elves, and curious Winter Sprites from getting injured on the job.

Rules like "Don't go into the Storage Room for Broken Robots, Dysfunctional Toys, and Other Dangerous Experiments, please – and if you _must_ go in, for the love of god, don't try to turn them on."

Problem is, Jack Frost does not "follow rules."

But when the giant metal Behemoth flickers to life, its rusted hinges groaning as it shakes off the dust from it's long inactivity, and it rises to full height – As it towers over Jack, horns brushing the tall ceiling, blinking down at him with a crazed glint in its electric glowing eyes – Jack wonders, belatedly, if he might've made a mistake.

—

2\. Tooth's  
_Memory boxes_

He wants to know what _kind_ of teeth the Tooth Fairies collect.

After all, humans continue to lose their teeth all throughout their lives. Not on purpose, of course, but accidentally… thanks to dental procedures, cavity-inducing cola, bar brawls, rugby, and good ol' fashioned aging – even past childhood, humans just cannot not seem to keep ahold of their pearly whites.

Jack only wants to steal a peek.

He has no way of knowing that, after the attack from Pitch, the Fairies had decided to deter all thefts by boobytrapping the teeth.

—

3\. Sandy's  
_Dreamsand_

Sandy's island fortress is so quiet, so calm and serene, that he often forgets that even here, there can be danger.

Jack goes snooping around the castle (heh, _Sand _castle) and discovers there are different kinds of Dreamsand, each with different effects than the ones Sandy uses on kids from night to night.

A cache of Nightmare sand that Sandy hasn't yet turned back to gold; a hoard of Oddball sand, responsible for nonsensical dreams; a tiny chest of Spindleprick – sand that caused Forever Sleep.

And Wet Dreamsand, as Bunny called it – a coarse, red sand that inspired lustful dreams.

Jack discovered the last just before a Guardian meeting, decided to bring it along to get his questions answered, and, long story short, accidentally dosed his friends; Jack was reduced to sitting in awkward silence, watching the rather _suggestive_ red images play out over his co-workers heads, and was certain, any minute now, he was going to die of embarrassment.

—

4\. Bunny's  
_Alien Spaceship_

So Bunny was an alien… Who knew?

Sandy was an alien too, but _his _spaceship was made from pure dreamsand, and not of rainbow metal and rose-tinted glass, like the one Jack was stuck inside right now.

"Bunny, hey, promise not to get mad, okay, but, uh," Jack said, in a not-panicking voice, into the cell phone the others had given him Just In Case— "but, uh, I found your spaceship, and…"

"Frostbite," Bunny said, and Jack could practically hear him sigh, "Fer the love of god, tell me ya haven't launched yerself _straight into deep space._"

"…Please help?"

—

5\. Pitch Black's  
_Disco_

"OUT! Pitch squawked, and literally punted Jack out of the lair's front door.

Jack scrambled up and made a getaway before the Nightmares or shadows could snatch his ankles and drag him off to who-knows-where.

Admittedly, spying on your worst enemy is not the _wisest _course of action, but Jack had been _curious – _he wanted to know what Pitch got up to in his spare time… when the Nightmare King wasn't sitting around twirling his proverbial mustache, that is.

But Jack was caught wholly unprepared; Pitch did not read Stephen King, or paint like HR Geiger, or marathon horror movie flicks – no, Pitch collected music, everything from Classical to Pop, Disco to Grunge, and Jack probably shouldn't have laughed when he witnessed the Nightmare King dancing to a lively Polka.

In retrospect, it made sense – why else would everyone call Pitch Black _The Boogieman?_

_—_

6\. Jamie's  
_Legacy_

Jamie's next homework assignment is the dreaded Family Tree.

In Jack's book, anything worth doing is worth _over_doing, and by god, if they're gonna do this, they're gonna do it _right._

They carve up twigs from construction paper and Jack helps dig up family roots—albums, articles, birth certificates, wills, morgue statements, and arrest warrants—and the result is a tree-monstrosity that grows straight to the ceiling; the presentation, when set up, takes up a classroom wall.

Even the teacher gapes in shock, and Jamie gleefully expounds on his genealogy, whose notables include: The Mayor (mother's side, a cousin twice removed) A great Uncle in the California Gold Rush who died of dysentery ('What that's a _real_ disease?') and a humble seamstress from the 1700's whose maiden name was _Overland._

And there, in the chaos of the Classroom, as everyone scrambles to get a look at the Bennett tree, Jamie grins—and Jack swears he can almost hear the echoes of his sister in the corner of Jamie's smile.

"_Still out there playing tricks, Jack,_" she almost seems to say; she shakes her head and smiles, fond, _"Still out there causing trouble._"

* * *

_Hey! If you liked this one, check out my fanfic April Showers, which is just more of the same - Rise of the Guardians 5 sentence fics, updates every day in April 2019. _

_Hope you enjoyed! Reviews always appreciated! _


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